Set Fire to the Past
by Purplegogosheep
Summary: With a cheating Ron, Hermione finds herself a little distraught. After Draco Malfoy finds her in a weak moment, will he be the one finally able to heal her past? And what's with Draco anyway? Hermione was always known for being too curious. Slight OOC.
1. Chapter 1

**Set Fire to the Past**

**Hermione's POV**

She stared down at the bottle in her hands, faintly wondering how her fellow Head had managed to sneak in a full bottle of Fire whiskey. He was too clever, hiding it in an empty sugar tin. He knew she never used sugar in her coffee, and judging by the other almost empty bottle in there, that he didn't either. She whirled around and pulled a glass out of the cupboard, violently slamming it on the counter.

"Whoops..." She murmured, her thoughts straying to the red-headed bastard whom she once loved. Loved, as in the past tense of the word. He had cheated, again. Maybe it was because she wasn't pretty enough...

"No." She muttered, pushing that thought out of her head. She twisted the cap off and flung it across the shared kitchenette, where it collided into a teapot.

Ignoring the mess she was making, Hermione Granger abandoned the empty glass on the marbled countertop and stumbled into the Head's common area. She sank to the floor in front of the plush couch where she and Draco spent so many nights laughing, and after tilting the bottle against her lips, promptly gulped some of it.  
>The first drink left her throat raw and burning, which started the coughing and sputtering that forced her to think about other things than Ron. She smirked at herself, realizing that thinking about not thinking about him was still thinking about him, in a twisted way. She was desperate to forget about him, a sort of desperate that made her sink to levels she hadn't ever thought of. Stealing Draco's fire whiskey, drinking almost all of it... She was lost. The burning from the whiskey hadn't faded after the seventh or ninth gulp, though the coughing had. Instead, her throat was home to a low, dull heat that had little effect on her chilled heart. Still, she kept drinking.<p>

**Draco's POV**

He had been making the last of his rounds, wondering why his fellow Head had faked an illness just to get out of patroling.

_Must be something serious to force her from completing her head duties. I didn't think she hated me that much..._ Draco half-smiled at that, because they were getting along fairly well, once he stopped brutally insulting her to please the people whom he thought were his friends. He still teased her, how could he not? She was so much fun to rile up because her pride never allowed her to just laugh at herself. So she always fought back. That was one of the great things about her, she was so damn stubborn. Shaking his head to get rid of the thoughts of Hermione Granger, who was dating Ronald Weasley, Draco opened a broom closet door. And froze, his face going expressionless. But in the back of the closet, making out quite passionately, was Lavendar Brown and Hermione's Ronald Weasley.

_Oh shit,_ he thought, as he put two and two together. Then, he turned and ran.

**Hermione's POV**

Hermione was floating. She couldn't tell how long she had been floating, or even what time of day it was, but she knew she was floating. Higher and higher, it felt like she never had to come down. She couldn't remember why she had to float away in the first place... But she couldn't muster up enough strength to care to remember. Shrugging, she focused on the way the stars twinkled in the enchanted ceiling and started humming some far-off tune.

*About twenty minutes later*

In the midst of her song, she heard a loud crash followed by an eloquent string of curse words. She recognized the smooth voice, that called out her name, its loud tone trying to pull her out of the clouds.

"Drrrrrraco!" She said breathily. "Come down here and float with me! Come lay here and look! STARS." She giggled a little, because it seemed wondrous how the stars were still there.

**Draco's POV**

After racing through the corridors like a madman, Draco finally reached the head's dorm. Only to crash through the portrait hole and trip over the rug like some uneducated fool. He didn't have to worry about Granger seeing him though, as she was underneath the coffee table, staring up at the ceiling. The empty bottle of his emergency fire whiskey lay abandoned on the carpet beside her.

"Granger. What have you done to yourself?" He asked, exasperation slipping into his tone. She flipped her head to the side to look at him with strangely bright eyes.

"Meeee? I's never even felt betttaarrrr."

Barely managing to suppress a groan, he crouched low to the table.

"Granger, if you come out here I'll tell you a secret."

Hermione's mouth gaped open, similar to a fish gasping for air.

"You, Dr-r-aco Mafloy, tell me, Hermi- Hermy Granger, a secret? You's trustin' me?"

Grinning at that last sentence, he decided he wouldn't be able to talk sense into her after she willingly called herself Hermy.

"Yes. I do trust you, but you have to come out here right now." He said, patting the couch next to him for effect.

She crawled out, cracking her head against the smooth surface of the coffee table. Draco reached out a head to steady her, marveling in the soft warmth that radiated from her.

"Whoa, there. Be careful, I've never had to knit heads back together. I don't want to start now." He pulled her next to him against the sofa. She leaned on him heavily. Once again, he forced his thoughts away from how warm she was.

Hermione giggled, which turned in to hysterical laughter.

"I would of nevvvarrr thoughts that you could…" she paused, her laughter causing her to gasp for breath- "KNIT." The whispered word caused her to go into another round of hysterics.

Draco groaned inwardly but couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from curving slightly up.

Hermione's giggles faded and she looked up at Draco, her eyes wide.

"Youuu are- beautiful. You have this face, that's unforgetable." Raising a drunken hand, she reached towards his face.

"BEEP!" she intoned drunkenly, poking him in the nose. With a laugh, she went to poke him again.

Draco caught her hand before she could do any real damage, realizing her hand was much smaller than his, but seemed to fit perfectly. Hermione stopped midlaugh and frowned once.

Draco wondered if he had gone too far, especially when she was intoxicated, when she leaned in closer and pressed her lips to his. Then all of his thoughts ceased.

A/N: SO DID YOU LIKE IT? Feedback would be greatly appreciated, so feel free to review or message me! And I am sorry about this mini cliffhanger, but I will try to get Chapter 2 up soon. (:


	2. Chapter 2 Part One

**Disclaimer: Nope, the characters are not mine. I don't even have a bottle of firewhiskey to drown my sorrows in. **

**A/N: I have a single review. And it was special, so I'm replying to it here.**

**MY REPLY "I agree! They are completely OOC. Sorry about that, there is a reason (sort of) that will be revealed at a later point (if all goes according to plan) Thank you so much for reviewing! (: Hope you enjoy the future chapters."**

**Here is CHAPTER TWO, I hope all of you non-reviewers enjoy it as well. However, I wouldn't know because you don't review. Hmph! **

**CHAPTER TWO (Part One) I'm holding part two hostage... SO REVIEW. Also, please pardon any grammatical errors. I didn't have any time to edit, because I was in a hurry to post this. **

**Hermione's POV**

Sunlight filtered through the curtains and outside the window sill a bird was happily chirping away. Prying her eyes open, she winced at how bright it was.

At the moment each chirp from that bird felt like a hammer crashing into her head. She wanted to kill the bloody bird, but she was having trouble moving. With a loud groan, she pulled her covers over her head.

"You can't stay like that all day, you know." Hermione stifled a shriek and peered out over the edge of her blankets.

Draco stood there, freshly showered with a smug smile on his handsome face.

Did I really just think Draco was handsome? Bad thoughts! She mentally scolded herself, and then winced at the throbbing pain.

"What the hell happened last night?" her voice sounded hoarse from disuse, and she found herself wondering what had happened.

After drinking half of the bottle of firewhiskey everything was blissfully fuzzy. After the whole bottle of firewhiskey, everything was gone. She couldn't

remember what led to her waking up in (thankfully her own) bed.

Draco just stood there silently; eyeing her as if he knew that her fuzzy brain was desperately trying to churn out answers.

Finally, he crossed the room in two strides, and pressed a small bottle into her hand. "This should help."

Glancing down, she gratefully spied a pepper-up potion. She sat up, the covers pooling around her was after unscrewing the lid, Hermione motioned at

Draco with the bottle self-consciously. "Cheers." Sarcasm was one way to tell she was grumpy. Pressing the bottle against her lips, she tilted it back and

swallowed the contents in one mouthful. Her throat tingled and she felt the potions effects begin to take place. The pain from her hangover disappeared

when the smoke from her ears stopped.

Finally able to think clearly, Hermione looked down. She was wearing a too-big button-down shirt; similar to the one Draco was wearing now. She was not

wearing a bra. Gasping a little at that fact, she pulled her sheet up to cover her.

"What am I wearing?" she practically screamed, causing her fellow head to raise one pale eyebrow. "DRACO!"

"Calm down, Granger. I found you in the common room completely drunk. You demanded that you get my favorite shirt if you won a bet, and surprisingly you

won." He finished, sounding sincere.

"You made a bet against a very drunk me? What else did you do?" she cried accusingly. But a fuzzy memory came to her and she did remembering winning

the harmless bet as to see who could hold their eyes open longest.

"If my lucid memory serves better than yours, you were the one that made the bet." he defended himself. "I'm the one that carried you up to your bed once

you passed out. And don't worry, I wasn't looking." With those words, he backed out of her room and shut the door. After sending a silent prayer, she

flipped back the covers and stood up. She wasn't wearing any pants.


	3. Chapter 2 Part Two

Disclaimer: I don't own HP or any of the characters.

A/N: I don't plan on splitting up any more chapters; it was simply a necessity due to some computer troubles. I wasn't planning on using part 2 as a hostage, and I felt bad that part 1 was super-short due to said computer issues. But nonetheless, Enjoy! Also, once I figure out how to reply to reviews, I promise to send something your way. (:

Chapter 2: Part 2

**Hermione**

"Please tell me that you're joking." Ginny's eyes were wide as she stared at her friend's face.

"About what? The whole cheating boyfriend or the no-pants and Draco's shirt? I haven't even gotten to the worst part yet." With a groan, Hermione flung her hands up to cover her face. "This is so embarrassing."

Gasping loudly, Ginny snatched Hermione's wrist and yanked it away from her face. "There is no way you can just tell me only a part of your drunken stupidity!" At this line, Madame Pince turned and frowned at the two girls disapprovingly. Luckily, the library was nearly empty, and nobody reacted to Ginny's loud statement.

The red-head looked sheepish for a second, then whispered, "I understand this whole thing with my idiotic brother, but you are not allowed to hold out on me. Remember that time I cursed Harry with that nasty bat-boogey hex because I thought that he was looking at another girl? I won't judge."

Hermione smiled faintly at the memory. "I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to lose it. I'm not even sure it really happened, because I'm trying not to dwell too much on the fact that I would ever do something as immature as drinking copious amounts of stolen Firewhiskey. Just promise me that you're not going to freak out. Or anything that falls under the category of freaking out."

Her young friend nodded impatiently. "Okay, okay. My lips are sealed. And I won't react violently."

Sighing, Hermione leaned in closer and tried to find the words. "I… um… Well. I think I… assaulted… Draco… with my lips?" She said with a grimace. "I kind of think I kissed him."

Ginny slapped a hand over her mouth, her face flushing as red as her hair. "WHAT?" came the muffled reply. Peeling her hand away, she whispered in a softer tone. "You, Hermione Granger, kissed Draco Malfoy?"

"Ginny, you promised not to judge. What am I supposed to do? Do you think he remembers?" Hermione worried aloud.

"Um… I'm just thinking of all of the rumors. Not judging you! And yes, he wasn't the one piss-drunk last night. Now, I bet he's wondering if you remember. You have to talk to him about it!" Her friend advised.

"No! Well. Maybe. What if he hates me? Or makes fun of me?" Hermione voiced.

"You told me you were getting along really well after you two planned that ball together. And he's pretty funny now that he's not being a ferret. I think he'll understand. But, if you want to take the coward's way out, just pretend like you don't remember. It always works. Trust me, I've drunkenly kissed a bunch of guys." Ginny glanced at her watch. "Come on, let's go eat some chocolate cake. It'll help you decide."

Despite Ginny's "expertise" in dealing with boys and drunken matters, Hermione didn't exactly trust her advice after accidentally breaking Seamus Finnigan's nose while trying to get out of a date with him. Hermione didn't know if she could deal with another disaster after failed advice. Nonetheless, chocolate cake did sound really good.

**Ron **

"Ron. Tell me you're kidding. You're a blimey idiot!" Harry ran a hand through dark hair, worried about how Hermione was taking the break-up. Hopefully she had found Ginny.

"I know. There's just something about Lavender… the way her eyes shine and her long, dark hair. Her skin is just heavenly too, all soft caramel." Ron trailed off with a far-away sigh.

Harry snapped his finger in front of Ron's face. "Have you gone mad? Hermione is a thousand times better than Lavender Brown. And you were crazy about Hermione! What happened to you?"

Ron's eyes darkened. "I don't like Hermione at all. And there's nobody that comes close to Lav-Lav, so you had better watch it." He stood up and strode out of the Gryffindor common room. Harry wondered for a brief second what had happened to his best friend.

**Draco**

This was torture. He knew she remembered the kiss, and he couldn't get it out of his mind. To make matters worse, he had just received a letter from his deceased father's business associate urging him to sell the Malfoy share of the company.

Once his father killed himself with the loss of his beloved "lord" and the impending jail time that would follow, Draco had been left as the sole heir of the Malfoy name. He decided to take a different direction with the Malfoy name, clearing out all of the dark items his father had collected over the years. His mother had been able to talk the company into waiting for his 18th birthday, but with that just around the corner, the sharks could smell fresh blood in the water. Draco had no intentions of selling though. He was going to get the business out of its cut-throat practices. He wanted the business to help the very people he had been forced to condemn. His father would be rolling over in his grave if he could see his son now, making plans to help "mudbloods" among the many things he had planned.

When his father was alive, Draco's hands were tied. He couldn't go against his father's wishes or he would torture Narcissa. So Draco was forced to play a role, the arrogant son, until it became too hard to slip away from the false pretense. The walls he had constructed to keep everyone had trapped him. Now, he was trying to make up for his past.

The Dark Mark would be forever seared into his forearm, but he would somehow manage to change his future. He was grateful to stop cursing people for their blood, which was a ridiculous idea anyway. With all of this riding on his shoulders, he didn't notice Hermione getting too close to his walls.

As they were fellow head's they were required to spend quite a lot of time together. Though shaky at the start, they managed to settle some of their differences. But he couldn't have Hermione thinking he'd gone all soft. He wasn't a saint anyway. With that thought, he began to plan.


End file.
